Emergency Nurses' Readiness for Evidence-Based Practice Change: The Next Generation

Purpose:
The pilot study will examine the feasibility of completing the Readiness for Change Questionnaire (RFCQ) and learn how emergency registered nurses' (RN) rate their readiness for change in practice pertaining to pressure ulcer (PrU) prevention.

Background/Significance:
The emergency department is a major source of hospital admissions and an under-investigated patient care area for PrU prevention. The RFCQ measures readiness for change using the theory of organizational change. To date, the RFCQ has not been used to study the general nursing population. A RFCQ assessment reveals infrastructure gaps, which can be addressed to improve readiness and implement change. Use of the RFCQ offers a new approach to implementing PrU prevention in emergency nursing.

Methods:
The pilot study uses a convenience sample of 36 emergency adult,RNs working full-time, part-time, or per diem, in a community, non-teaching, non-Magnet hospital emergency department in Southeast Florida. Contracted emergency RNs hired to work three months or less will be excluded. Participant recruitment will occur in July & August, 2012. The 25 item RFCQ uses a seven-point Likert scale ranging from 1= strongly disagree to 7= strongly agree. Validity and reliability of the RFCQ is reported as valid and reliable with coefficient alpha ranges of 0.65 to 0.80. Factor analysis of the RFCQ reported acceptable coefficient alpha for each factor. The RFCQ completion time is 20 minutes.

Results:
Descriptive statistics using percentile will summarize the emergency RNs' demographics and questions pertaining to completion of the RFCQ. Mean and standard deviation will measure the emergency RNs' readiness for change factors (content, process, context, and individual.

Conclusions and Implications for Practice:
Pilot study findings will generate knowledge about the RFCQ and emergency RNs' readiness for practice change pertaining to PrU prevention. The knowledge gained can be used in evidence-based practice model development and nursing research focused on evidence-based practice implementation.